Like Father and Son
by ILoveVampireDiaries
Summary: From the movie, scenes where A.J and Harry's relationship has not been at its best but also where you can see Harry loves A.J really. I thought of writing these with in depth thoughts by either A.J or Harry. R&R!
1. Oh, hi Grace!

**Disclaimer: Armageddon and the characters in this story (Harry Stamper, A.J. Frost and Grace Stamper) do not belong to me, although I wish I had A.J :D**

_After watching the film last year, I have rediscovered my love for it, rating it at number one on my 'favourite films' list_. _I especially love Harry and A.J 's relationship, and as everyone who's watched the film will know - Harry loves A.J as a son, even after finding out his daughter is dating him ;)_  
><em>I have decided to write a few of their scenes here, with A.J or Harry's thoughts and feelings. Enjoy!<em>

**(A.J's POV):**

A.J could hear Harry shouting a mile away, but hoped that it had nothing to do with him. That was extremely unlikely.

Sudden banging outside his room made him sit up in bed and quickly cover Grace with the blankets, trying to make sure she was hidden. He swung his legs out of bed, as Harry stormed in.

"A.J! A.J you in here? O_h_ so that's perfect, you're in bed! Get up!"

A.J shot up and walked in front of the bed. Just in case. "Err hey, you wanna see me?"

"Yeah I'm looking for you."

"You're pissed, okay I can see that." Harry's face right now was well known to A.J. Over the years, and especially after his father died, A.J had increasingly been in Harry's 'bad books'.

Everything he did seem to annoy his mentor, who had promised his best friend (A.J's father) he would take care of his son after he died, which was nearly 6 years ago.

A.J kid himself that it was only because he was so smart in this business and Harry was getting worried that he would take over.

In contrast, Harry never shied from the opportunity to remind him that everyone here was older than him, which made him inferior in ideas and talents. Basically, he was rubbish compared to the others.

"No, you know what A.J? I'm not pissed. You've seen me pissed, this is way way beyond pissed. You know I shut down number 2 last night, right?"

"Yeah man, I had a hunch on that..."

_Oh right... _He'd been hoping that Harry would just be pleased that he'd taken initiative and see how number 2 went. A.J just _knew _that they could get more oil out of it. Which was why he had _secretly _run it again...

"So let me tell you something: Some day, many years from now, when you're all grown up and you got your own oil company, and 8 million dollars of your own money on the contract, you can do whatever comes into that little A.J idiot mind of yours, you want! But as long as it says 'Harry Stamper Oil' on the rig, you do not disobey my rules, you got that?"

_Play it cool A.J, play it cool..._

"Yeah I do got that."

"Right now I need to hear five words form you."

"Uhh..." He was pretty sure Harry had said these words before. He just had a problem remembering a lot of the stuff he'd been told by him.

"I'll never do that again..." Harry counted the words off with his fingers, while A.J remembered half way through and chanted it with him.

"I'll never do that again. I'm a fool! That was idiotic, I-I-I mean that was stupid, I'm an idiot. I know what name's on the sign, I-I-I-" He kept telling himself to shut up, but it wasn't working!

"What's going on?"

_Quick! Think of something! _"What's going on? Well, you know I-I screwed up, a little edgy -" _You can say that again..._

Now Harry looked _really _suspicious... "How long have you worked for me?"

"Five _wonderful _years..." Will the compliment work - added with the enthusiasm?

"In five years you have _never _apologised to me this quickly. Something's going on here, and I'm going to find out what it is." _Crap._

Harry started moving towards the bed. _Crapcrapcrapcrap._

_C'mon A.J! STOP him! _"Nonono. I'm turning over a new leaf! I'm trying to learn from the man! What would Harry do...?"

Harry signalled to him a shutting up motion with his hand. He thought it best to shut up.

That is, until Harry picked up a bra.

"...I'm at a loss for words...Okay I can explain this."

"You can explain this?" Could he get even more menacing? A.J hoped he'd never find out.

"I can!"

Harry raised his golf stick and pushed it against A.J's throat. They both stepped slowly backwards, in synchronisation.

"I would really like an explanation for this. You just stay right here."

A.J could see Harry's hand reaching towards the covers. _No...please! _It took all his pride to not run away.

Harry semi pulled the covers off the bed.

A.J faked surprise on his face. _Oh, hi Grace, didn't know you were there!_

Harry's face was subtly shocked. After working and living alongside Harry for many years previously with his father, A.J could tell when he was shocked, angry...angry...and angry. "Grace..."

"Hi Harry." A.J had to give Grace credit - Her dad finding out about them in this way didn't look like it bothered her at all!

"I have asked you repeatedly to call me dad."

"Sorry Harry." A.J wished he had her courage to stand up to her father. Maybe it was because she never really stayed with him, after being at the office a lot. He wasn't exactly the best father in the world...

"Get up and get your clothes on."

Grace glanced at A.J. Harry also looked at A.J - just not with the same expression. A.J could do nothing other than stare at the floor.

Harry whispered to him "You just stay right there, I'll be right back..."

One look at Harry's face had him running for his life.

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><p>I hope you liked this scene! :D<p>

I will have another chapter up soon. Please read and review :D


	2. You're Fired

**Disclaimer: Armageddon and the characters in this story (Harry Stamper and A.J. Frost) do not belong to me, although I wish I had A.J :D**

**This one-shot is after Number 2 explodes with oil and everyone is covered in it! Harry and A.J. are shutting the oil off.  
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_Thank you to wolfgurlwriter1725 for adding this story to her story alert! :)  
><em>

**(Harry's POV):**

Harry twisted the wheel closed to cut off the oil supply, and congratulated himself on his restraint on not shooting the boy next to him again. With a more fatal shot.

This was worse than any other mistake A.J. had ever done. Although A.J had disobeyed him many times before, the effects had never nearly been the loss of people's lives!

This could destroy Harry Stamper's reputation of his being the best oil digging company in the country. And right now, Harry was mad. He needed the people who worked for him to be trusted!

"Somebody could have gotten killed out here today. You want that on your conscience?"

The Chinese people gave him a thumbs up and said with delight "You're the man, Harry!"

_Wow, they really don't know how close to death this imbecile beside me had brought them._

Turning back round, he glanced at A.J. He - and everyone else, including himself - really needed a hot bath to wash all the oil and dirt off.

But that wasn't the point.

The point was, this young _idiot _of a man was dating his daughter. And the only way to get them to stop seeing each other, would be to cut A.J. out of the Stamper life - which meant getting him off this property.

So this disaster could not have happened at the most opportune time!

Realising A.J. was waiting for him to say something, he opened his mouth "You're fired."

No, he was not such a cruel bastard that he was unable to say that A.J.'s expression did not move his heart - which depended on whether or not he had one.

But he could not - _would not _- allow his daughter to date _this man _of all people.

What did she see in him? He was immature, disobedient, sloppy in his work (which was not entirely true, he worked well - despite Harry putting him down every time he showed some ingenuity - but today's circumstances showed that A.J.'s independence could be dangerous!).

Harry was determined to forget about the promise he'd made to A.J.'s father, and besides, wasn't he old enough to start his own line of work?

In Harry's eyes, (okay, which were a _little _biased) A.J. no longer needed a 'father figure' - if he could ever be called that.

If he stayed out of their lives now, everything would be fine. Grace would marry a rich CEO at the office, and A.J... would do whatever A.J. did best.

Ruin someone else's life. But _not _Harry and Grace Stamper's anymore.

As he walked away from the stricken youth, he now needed to persuade everyone else to see the genius of his plan.

He couldn't believe his colleagues liked the kid. They should try being his father!

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><p>Please review :3<p> 


	3. 5 Words? More like 11!

**This one-shot is after Harry realises he needs A.J on his team for the mission to the asteroid.**

**A.J's POV:****  
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A.J was busy working when Harry turned up out of nowhere the day after he'd been fired.

Yes, he was still smarting about that, especially as he hadn't had the chance to see Grace, because father and daughter had been whisked off to the NASA base in that helicopter!

Harry was the first to break the silence "Yep, you are on your way A.J."

"Ah you know, having a business for yourself has advantages: Make my own hours, nobody shoots me in the leg..." Was his sarcasm obvious? "You haven't got a gun on you now have you? No? Good. 'Cos I kinda want to get back to this whole thing about you asking me for help! Does that mean there's actually a job that Mister all-go-no-quit big nuts Harry Stamper can't handle by himself, and needs _my _expert advice?"

Was Harry going to finally admit that A.J wasn't as completely useless as he always insisted? Or was he just going to strangle him with that piece of string he was looping around his finger?

"Something like that yeah..."

No, that wasn't good enough! Harry Stamper had to admit it to poor A.J's face!

"Well, no no no. I mean, is it something _like _that, or is it that?"

Harry stepped closer towards him "You and me got a real problem."

A.J should have seen the warning signs, and should have stopped trying to antagonise him, but he couldn't.

For some reason, all his frustration on being fired, and his annoyance at being treated harsher than any other of his former work colleagues and friends, was finally being let out.

He forgot that he was talking to his former boss/father of his girlfriend who could be _really _scary when he wanted to be - even when he didn't mean to be! - and instead was talking to a bully (he had been bullied many times at school, so it wasn't anything new).

"You know Harry, there are only, err, 5 words I wanna hear from you right now. Those words are...you know A.J, I really look up to you, you've been a hero of mine for a long time, I'm very impressed with your work, I'm emotionally closed off... That's like, err, that's like 11 words or something. You know what? How about just...A.J I'm sorry and I love ya."

Yes he knew he had waffled for a bit, but _finally _what he'd wanted to say for, like, forever, had been said!

Maybe now Harry would see he was just an enthusiastic young man who didn't mean to fall in love with his daughter - but ah well, love happens - and that he could be trusted to work alongside him again...?

"No, A.J, there's not a job on the planet that I'd want you to work with me on...I mean that."

...Or not.

All the bravado facade A.J had just put on melted away, to leave the old him staring in despair at his boss. His mentor. His _father_.

Who had just basically told him he hated him. And was now walking away, without a backwards glance.

"So what are you doing? HARRY! What's the job?"

He was only a little ashamed that his voice rose to the high heavens while he raced after Harry.

After everything he'd just said, he really did want to help Harry out!

And not just because he wanted to get into his good books for Grace.

Well, maybe a little.


	4. I got it!

**Underwater training mission.**

Harry was only there to oversee the mission as a mere objective third party...Scrap that, he was there to make sure A.J didn't screw it up.

It _was_ the first time he'd been the leader of the group, and though Harry was _not _pleased, he had to grudgingly admit there was no one else who'd have been capable to lead, not even Chick.

"Watch your time Independence team."

A.J piped up, in an exasperated tone "Thanks Harry, would you mind letting me run my own team?"

Jesus, that boy didn't appreciate any help!

Well, Harry was still _the _boss. "A.J you're at 600 feet. Your pipe is long, let's back the RPM down to 8,000."

"We don't have time for 8,000!"

This time, there was a noticeable restraint in Harry's voice, as he tried to keep it level "A.J, take it back down you're going to snap the pipe, I don't wanna blow this transmission."

"Damn it 11,000!"

This time Bear, who was on A.J's own team, cut in "Slow it down A.J."

"Bear, come on, be on our team for a little bit."

This boy just wouldn't listen to reason, and Bear seemed to realise that because he directly addressed Harry "Harry are you listening to this?"

"Yeah I'm listening Bear."

"Harry? You don't work for Harry anymore, okay, you're going to have to listen to me when we're on that rock, you're going to do as I say, now send it up to 11,000."

Why did he have to be so stubborn? It did remind Harry of someone he used to know...

Harry now put on his authoritative voice, hoping that A.J would register his demand. "A.J back it off you're going to blow the transmission."

"Hey Harry would you let me run my team, please? Bear, god dammit, I know what I'm doing she can handle it, she'll be fine! Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

_Keep it up A.J... _"A.J back - "

He was cut off by the unmistakeable sound of the transmission shutting down.

In the background, Harry heard A.J say to his team "The computer's wrong and you know that. We did the right thing."

Before Harry could vent his frustration at this dumb minded idiot, Sharpe suggested "If you want to replace a member of this crew, now's the time."

Although Harry was angry at A.J, and wanted nothing more than to shout at him, he was more than a little annoyed that Sharpe would suggest such a thing!

A.J was a good digger and, with the right guidance - and attitude - he would be ace at this mission.

So that was why he turned down Sharpe's offer "I'll take care of this. Get him out of the tank."

This was not going to be pretty.

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><p>Harry strode down the length of the pool's side, and stopped right in front of A.J, who was standing there in his bulky suit, dripping water everywhere, looking more than a little apprehensive.<p>

Harry was well aware of the onlookers gathered around, but maybe they would influence A.J to be submissive straight away for once, and agree with his demands.

"You want to go home? Is that it? You want to be fired?"

"No, I don't. My crew was doing the right thing - "

"Your _crew_?"

A.J seemed a little taken aback at the outburst. "Yeah."

"Your crew just blew the transmission, A.J!"

"Listen, that NASA computer is just playing it safe, the machine you built, the rig, can do it - "

"Shut up, shut up, _shut - shut your mouth!_" Now was not the time to try reasoning with him, when he was this angry.

What Harry did best was lead, and A.J would have to accept that, otherwise he would always be at the receiving end of his anger!

Also, it was not just between him and A.J this time, they were doing this for NASA, who would not tolerate even a tiny bit of disobedience, and would have probably fired A.J straight away, if it wasn't for the urgency of this mission.

"Those men in that room have zero tolerance for showing off, hot dogging, going by your gut instinct while you try to be a hero, you got that?"

He realised that he had grabbed A.J's collar in his frustration, and gave it a little shake when A.J didn't reply "Say the words A.J!"

"I got it!"

Harry actually didn't want to be the constant 'mean guy' in A.J's view.

Much as he hated to admit it, A.J was a bright kid, taking after his father.

Even now, Harry couldn't understand why his father, Harry's best friend, made him promise to look after A.J.

He wasn't exactly good with kids - Grace was proof of that!

She had to lean about tampex from Rockhound, for god's sake!

Maybe he had thought a son would be better for Harry...But look how that turned out!

He'd had a second chance to be a father, and from the look on A/J's face right now, he knew he'd blown it.


	5. Smile

**Harry and A.J bonding moment. Potentially last chapter.**

**A.J's POV:  
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Harry stopped A.J before they entered their different shuttles.

"How are you feeling?"

"Err...Good you know, I mean, considering I've never been this scared in my entire life, you know..." He trailed off, when he realised he wasn't going to be able to form a coherent sentence.

"Listen, once you get up there, you're going to be on your own...If anything should happen, I just wanted to..."

Wait...was this Harry looking out for him?

A.J responded in the only way he knew how with this man. "I know Harry, I'll uhh, try not to disappoint you." He grinned crookedly and began to walk away.

He turned back round though when he heard Harry call "Take care of yourself, kid!"

A sense of pleasure rippled through him when he caught Harry's smile.

Harry was smiling...at him.

_Oh my god, he's smiling at me!_

A.J realised he sounded like a love struck teenager, but for the first time in what seemed like forever, Harry wasn't frowning, glaring or shouting at him.

It took an 'end-of-the-world' crisis for this to happen?

They should be on the brink of death more often!

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><p>Please review :)<p> 


	6. Mayday

Request from **_Sam Fisher 007_**, sorry I took so long to write it!

**Independence down.**

**A.J's POV**:

Both Independence and Freedom sped forward, having just come out of the turbo boost around the moon.

They trailed after the asteroid, A.J not really listening to the captains as they spoke to Truman and the other communicators in Houston.

All he could see was the back of the asteroid, making its way towards earth, something he'd never though he'd witness.

He stated in this trance until suddenly his shuttle rocketed off course and he heard the captain frantically shout "We're hit!"

Everything became a blur, all his senses were assaulted, all he could hear, see, smell, even taste was danger and fear.

"_Mayday, mayday we are going down! _Freedom do you hear me? We are going down!"

How was this happening! This could be happening - he needed to get back to Grace, he needed to show Harry he was good enough for her, hell, he needed to live!

They shot past Freedom, twisting and turning, hitting everything in sight.

"Everybody, go to your life supports! Lock yourselves in the cargo bay!"

A.J didn't need telling twice, his survival instinct kicked in, lifting his helmet, but it drifted out of reach.

_Oh shit._

Hurriedly unbuckling his seat, he dived for the helmet. He heard Oscar shout "I can't get it on!" but there was nothing he could do, he hadn't even put his own on yet!

Grabbing his helmet, he clipped it firmly in place, and was about to return to help Oscar, but Lev bustled him towards the rails leading to the cargo bay.

A.J felt sick with fear, and heard the screams of the captains as they were flung out of the shuttle.

Tears ran down his face as sparks flew, but he trained his sights on the doors to the cargo bay, and he dragged himself after Lev.

Bear followed him, and they shut the door with difficulty once they realised no one else was coming.

All they could do now was wait, as they felt their shuttle quickly descending towards the asteroid.

A.J willed himself to stay strong but all he wanted was to see his family again, Grace, Harry. He was too young to die!

Finally, they made impact, and he couldn't hold on any longer.

He blacked out, the faces of those he loved flashing across his vision.

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><p><strong>Harry's POV:<strong>

He didn't understand. Not at first.

Both shuttles had safely got through the deadly turbo boost, and all they'd needed to do was avoid the debris trailing after the asteroid.

A spark of light and a massive bulk soaring past his shuttle alerted him to something seriously wrong.

That was too big for a rock.

Freedom hit a piece of debris, but it looked like damage was minimal.

He wondered what was happening with Independence when he saw pieces of technical equipment hit the glass.

"Sharpe, what the hell is that, is that the Independence?!"

He got his answer as a body raced past.

A dreaded thought immediately sprang in Harry's mind; _Was that A.J?_

"Houston, Independence is a dead stick. It's gone down." Sharpe's transmission hit him in the gut.

_No. _It cannot - will not - be true!

For a while, Freedom had its own problems, overshooting the landing field, but once they touched down, and Harry made sure all his friends were okay, he sat there, silent.

Rock asked "Where's the other shuttle? What happened to the other shuttle?"

Sharpe kept it short and simple. "The Independence is off the grid."

"Off the grid?! What are you, a freaking cyborg? What does that mean?"

The other crew member, Tom, crouched next to Rock, "Hey, you saw it yourself, right? They're gone."

Max spoke up, voice rising "Gone?!"

Harry decided it was time to intervene, voice on the verge of breaking "Let's just ask God to take care of our friends. May they rest in peace."

With tears streaking down his face, he unbuckled himself out of his seat and busied himself with the equipment, while the others slowly began to function again.

They had a job to do.

But all Harry could think about was A.J.

The man was only young, compared to the rest of them, he didn't deserve to die this way.

He'd deserved to marry the woman he loved, to live a happy life with kids (Harry's grandchildren?!). But all that had been taken from him, and now taken from Grace too.

Harry dreaded returning home without his son.

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><p>Please review :) I have one more chapter for this, and then that's it.<p> 


	7. Heroes

**Final. The straws have been drawn.**

**A.J's POV:**

Descending in the lift, A.J watched the faces of his friends and colleagues, dreading the moment when they would disappear.

He tried to derive reassurance from their expressions, but all he could see was their underlying pity.

He, the youngest of the men, was chosen to sacrifice himself for the greater good.

Through a stupid straw system.

Why couldn't they have stuck with Harry's choice to stay behind? Or Rockhound's?

A.J had been the only one not to offer.

He had a fiancée, a family to think about. He had his whole life ahead of him!

Maybe it was fate, karma whatever that had brought him to this point.

He was selfish not to volunteer, now he was picked and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Darkness. The light from the shuttle had faded away and now he was alone with Harry and the darkness.

_Huh, Harry had always wanted me out of his life_. Now he was getting his wish permanently.

The lift had reached the bottom. He would need to leave in a matter of seconds. The doors opened.

Swallowing the lump in his throat and blinking his eyes that were threatening to overflow, he managed to say "Do me a favour, will you? Just tell Grace that I umm... That I'll always be with her. Okay?"

There was no reply. Why wasn't Harry answering?

"Can you do that?!"

Finally, "Yeah, okay kid."

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><p><strong>Harry's POV:<strong>

Watching A.J throughout the lift ride, it honestly surprised him.

This young man was arrogant at the best of times - no, what was he saying?

Harry knew without a doubt that beside him stood the bravest and most loyal man he'd ever know. The spitting image of his father.

Who Harry had given a promise to, to take care of his son.

Was this breaking the promise?

He knew he hadn't been the best of guardians for A.J, that he'd been rude and unrelenting, especially when it came down to his daughter.

She deserved a rich, business man, not an oil rigger.

But as A.J said those words Harry heard the passion and the desperation underneath, and that's why he did it.

Pulling the oxygen tube out of its socket, he knew he had mere seconds before A.J would suffocate, so he ripped off his badge and stuffed it in the pocket.

"Give this to Truman. Make sure Truman gets that!"

Something to remember him by.

"Get in there."

Shoving A.J back in the lift, he air locked the door and watched as the young man got his breath back.

"It's my turn now."

"Harry! Harry! You can't do this to me! It's my job!"

Harry shook his head. "You take care of my little girl now. That's your job."

Harry smiled. Only a few weeks ago, he would never have dreamed of leaving his daughter's safety in the hands of A.J.

On second thoughts, maybe, deep down, he had always known that the son of his best friend was more than capable for this.

He trusted him.

A.J was choking on his words, and Harry would need to keep it short if he didn't want to fall to pieces too.

"I always thought of you as my son. Always. And I'd be damned proud to have you marry Grace."

"Harry…"

"Take care of yourself."

He punched the lift button, while A.J started slamming on the doors, trying to reach him as he was lifted to relative safety.

"Harry no - Harry I love you, don't do this - no! Don't do this! _Harry!"_

"I love you, my son."

He wouldn't be there physically on their wedding day, but both A.J and Grace knew how much they meant to him, and that's all that mattered.

He was doing this to give a better man a chance at a life he himself had messed up.

They were all heroes up here.

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><p><strong>The End<strong>.


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